In the simulator, many plot points are deduced by the simulator and skipped over in an instant. Only when it involves the main storyline does it hand control over to him. Even though twenty-plus years passed in the simulator, in Lu Cheng's perception, only a few months had actually gone by. Therefore, this tangible, visible, and touchable feeling in reality still excited him for a while.
With the increase in his soul power and the effects of the mysterious water pill from last night, Lu Cheng found chopping wood and carrying water quite effortless.
After returning home.
At the entrance of the Jiang family's courtyard, he ran into the steward surnamed Chen, who had been peeking over the wall last night. The latter was smiling and saying something to Mother Jiang. Mother Jiang was expressionless, but upon seeing Lu Cheng return, a smile bloomed in the corners of her eyes, and her tone was affectionate.
"You're back. Hurry, put that down in the yard and go wash your hands to eat..."
"Mm." Lu Cheng nodded. He ignored the steward and headed straight into the courtyard.
The steward frowned. In his eyes, Lu Cheng and the Jiang family were all commoners. Who didn't have to respectfully call him Steward Chen when they saw him? Mother Jiang treating him with indifference was one thing, as she was the mother of the future Second Young Master's wife, but what was this little bastard?
His eyes rolled, and he put on a kindly smile.
"This little brother must be Lu Cheng, right?"
"I see you are young and in good health. Why not come to my Xu Family to seek a job? As it happens, I am a steward for the Xu Family. Once you get in, I can arrange for people to take care of you. If you're lucky, you might even get to be a study companion for the Third Young Master..."
Lu Cheng glanced at him in surprise, didn't pay much attention, and turned to go into the house.
"You..." Chen Nian's eyes were stunned as he pointed at Lu Cheng's back.
"Sorry, my child is tired. If you have nothing else, please leave." Mother Jiang's eyes were indifferent. Without waiting for Chen Nian to spout more nonsense, she shut the door decisively.
Chen Nian: "..."
He glared coldly at the inside. "Damn little bastard, just you wait..."
...
A year and a half passed in a flash.
Inside the Jiang family courtyard.
Lu Cheng held his breath and focused, his eyes tightly shut. His mental force expanded outward, covering the entire courtyard, the pedestrians passing by on the nearby tiled streets, and the birds flying in the sky, taking every movement into his view with exaggerated speed and range.
He didn't know if this counted as a talent of the Martial Soul itself. The Blood Pupils Martial Soul had no Soul Ring attached and had not undergone a second evolution, yet it seemed to possess an innate "detection" ability, almost like having a god-view cheat, able to dynamically capture the movement trajectories of all living things.
Therefore, with the support of the Blood Pupils, he hadn't really practiced his aim with the Sun-Shooting Bow, but it was still accurate.
"Come eat..."
Mother Jiang looked at Lu Cheng with kindly eyes, a soft smile shining in them, and called out softly.
However, a sickly pallor surged onto her face.
"Alright."
Lu Cheng slowly opened his eyes. His blood-colored pupils were exceptionally eerie. Over the past two years, the boy had entered his tenth year. Under sufficient nourishment, his height had grown to about 1.67 meters. His physique wasn't overly bulky, but his muscle contours were well-defined, and his Soul Power had skyrocketed to level twenty-three.
In fact, according to his rate of soul power increase, he had already reached level fifteen before the Shrek Academy enrollment last summer. However, Jiang Nannan had just reached Spirit Elder last year and, using a spot from Shrek Academy, had gone to the Star Dou Great Forest with a group of students and disciples to hunt for a Soul Ring, so she couldn't come.
Therefore, Lu Cheng calculated that if he had enrolled at just level fifteen back then, he probably wouldn't have received much attention, and Jiang Nannan would have been under pressure recommending him, since the young girl was only a relatively outstanding external disciple with no power or background backing her.
After thinking about it, he decided to settle down for another year before doing anything.
So he waited until today.
Taking advantage of the summer vacation, Jiang Nannan returned home so he could just ask this older sister to recommend him to Shrek Academy.
Level twenty-three at ten years old—even without mentioning that it only took Lu Cheng two years to cultivate to this point, it was enough to make the Shrek Outer Academy take notice.
Moreover...
He couldn't wait any longer.
The Xu Family... they couldn't wait any longer.
Mother Jiang's illness had been recurring over these past two years. When they sought out pharmacists, the other party would only shake their head repeatedly. Her condition was becoming increasingly severe, and until one time, that pharmacist told him mysteriously that the condition was already so severe that it must be treated with some kind of Xuanming Divine Pill from the Xuanming Sect.
Lu Cheng completely understood the hidden meaning revealed in the other party's eyes.
It looked like Xu Sanshi's awakening age was approaching.
Cough, cough, cough...
Mother Jiang gently covered her mouth with a handkerchief, straightened her back, and started coughing again.
Her face was pale. She picked up the handkerchief, and there was a streak of bright red blood on it.
"It's gotten worse..."
Lu Cheng took a deep breath. If it really didn't work, he would use his own talent to bind himself to Shrek Academy, let one of their healing-system experts take action, or forcibly break the trickery the Xuanming Sect was pulling behind the scenes.
"Mom!"
A melodious, silver-bell-like girl's voice rang out.
The door was pushed open.
When Lu Cheng looked over again, a beautiful girl was standing at the doorway. Her figure was slender and well-proportioned; her long golden hair draped behind her head like large waves; her skin was fairer than snow; her eyes were like a pool of clear water; and a smile appeared on her pretty face, as if everything around her dimmed in comparison.
"Sister?"
Lu Cheng revealed a smile, his eyes gentle.
"You've grown taller!"
Jiang Nannan moved her long, beautiful legs and walked over quickly. Her watery pink eyes sized up Lu Cheng; she reached out with her snow-white hand to pinch his shoulder and then gestured to compare their heights.
"Mm, not bad..."
Jiang Nannan chuckled: "You're almost up to my eyes."
Lu Cheng's mouth twitched.
A year and a half had passed, and Jiang Nannan had actually grown to 1.7 meters tall, half a head taller than him. She was truly worthy of being an agility-attack system battle soul master, with her classic soft-bone charm rabbit, and her legs were especially long—she could even rival the leg-beauty Wei Linger from the simulator.
Jiang Nannan was wearing the classic Shrek Academy uniform, with its dark green color scheme. After greeting Lu Cheng, she cast her gaze onto Mother Jiang.
Her eyes were somewhat worried as she asked, "Did the physician say anything?"
Mother Jiang's eyes hesitated; she didn't want to add to the children's burden.
Lu Cheng spoke up directly: "He said she needs a Xuanming Divine Pill."
"Xuanming Divine Pill?!?"
The girl's eyes were stunned, and she stopped herself from speaking.
Over this past year or so, she had been scrimping and saving at Shrek Academy, working while studying, and had only managed to nervously save a few hundred gold coins. But that Xuanming Divine Pill was a secret pill of the Xuanming Sect, a priceless treasure. Her meager money probably wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between its teeth.
"How could..."
The Xuanming Divine Pill was basically something only high-level Soul Masters could use; it was said to be able to bring people back from the dead.
This was just like having a cold, but the doctor told you to go to the intensive care unit for observation.
However, Jiang Nannan clearly did not suspect the physician.
After all, Mother Jiang had visited every medical clinic in all of Xuanming City, and they had all basically waved their hands repeatedly, saying they couldn't cure it.
"Don't think too much." Mother Jiang gently soothed Jiang Nannan's hair: "Mom is already very satisfied to be able to watch you grow up and become an excellent Soul Master; living a few more years doesn't matter."
Jiang Nannan lightly bit her red lips, her eye sockets turning red.
"You will be fine..."
...
After dinner.
Jiang Nannan helped Mother Jiang go to sleep and came to the courtyard.
Seeing her younger brother sitting in the courtyard gazing at the moonlight, her beautiful eyes softened again. She walked over gently. "What are you thinking about?"
"Sister, I want you to help me get a recommendation to join Shrek Academy." Lu Cheng said softly, unsurprised.
"Shrek Academy?" Jiang Nannan's expression stiffened, and she stopped herself from speaking.
This silly younger brother, he still hadn't given up on this unrealistic idea.
"Shrek Academy's admission requirements are under twelve years old and above level fifteen. This is a hard requirement; it doesn't matter who comes; it won't work. Sister will help you..." Jiang Nannan said cautiously.
"Then what if I have reached it?"
A smile curled on the corners of Lu Cheng's mouth.
"What?"
Jiang Nannan was stunned.
"What if I have reached it?"
Lu Cheng's eyes gradually turned solemn. In the palm of his hand, a crimson curved bow slowly emerged. The surrounding temperature rose with the appearance of the fire bow. A fire cloud reflected in Jiang Nannan's eyes, and shock flashed through them as well.
At the same time, two Soul Rings rose from the soles of his feet.
"Sister, ten years old, level twenty-three. Is that qualified enough?" Lu Cheng showed his white teeth, smiling exceptionally brightly under the pitch-black night sky.
"It's qualified enough."
Jiang Nannan's eye twitched, and then she walked over quickly, her fair, tender small hand clenched into a fist, and she knocked Lu Cheng on the head hard.
Her eyes were dangerous as she said, "So... why did you hide it from Mom and me for so long? You made me worry about hurting your self-esteem, so I didn't even dare to show much of my strength in front of you."
Hiss...
Lu Cheng covered his head, baring his teeth and grimacing: "Because I was afraid you wouldn't believe what I said."
"Why wouldn't I believe that?" Jiang Nannan's beautiful eyes widened as she stared fiercely at Lu Cheng.
"I said the Xuanming Sect..." Lu Cheng rubbed his head and continued: "The Xuanming Sect has taken a fancy to you. They want to awaken the Martial Soul for their second young master, Xu Sanshi, and want you to be his wife, or a maid, or a concubine, so they set a trap for Mom."
The atmosphere suddenly went quiet.
A flash of shock and anger crossed the depths of Jiang Nannan's eyes: "Xiao Cheng, such a big matter... you can't just talk nonsense."
"I heard it secretly with my own ears; that steward surnamed Chen said it," Lu Cheng said helplessly.
"If you don't believe me, why don't you try taking Mom and walking out of Xuanming City?"
Speaking of which, Jiang Nannan's eyes had already turned somewhat cold.
Because she had indeed been summoned by the head mistress of the Xu family, who said they wanted her to be Xu Sanshi's bedchamber maid. And just half a year ago, she had sent letters to Lu Cheng, asking him to take Mother Jiang to Shrek City, but the several letters she sent in succession had all disappeared without a trace.
I am afraid it is truly as Lu Cheng said; Mother Jiang is the weak point the Xu family is using to target her.
"Xu Sanshi..."
Jiang Nannan's pink fists clenched tightly, and anger surged in her eyes.
At Shrek Academy, she had indeed seen that guy, but the two of them didn't have much interaction.
But she had never thought...
"Then what should we do?"
Jiang Nannan bit her silver teeth tightly, looking somewhat helplessly at Lu Cheng.
If it were an ordinary noble, she might still be able to use her identity as a Shrek Academy Outer Academy disciple to deter them, but the opponent was the Xuanming Sect, a true behemoth.
Unless the dean of the martial soul department is invited, there is no qualification to break the deadlock.
But with her status and position… It is very difficult.
Notes:
ദ്ദി(˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧
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